Meghalaya CM wins by-election, defeats Congress
Tura (Meghalaya), Aug 27 : Meghalaya Chief Minister and National Peoples Party (NPP) candidate Conrad Sangma on Monday won the by-election from the South Tura Assembly constituency by a huge margin.
But former Speaker Martin Danggo, who resigned from the Congress and joined the NPP, lost to Pius Marweiñ of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in Ranikor constituency.
The by-election in South Tura was necessitated after Agatha Sangma resigned to pave the way for her brother Conrad to contest in order to retain the the post of Chief Minister.
Conrad, the youngest son of the late Purno A. Sangma, defeated Charlotte W. Momin of the Congress by 8,421 votes in a four-cornered contest.
The NPP candidate secured 13,656 votes while Charlotte got 5,235 votes. Conrad, who was sworn as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya on March 6, was a non-elected member to the 60-member assembly.
"I won because people voted for development," Conrad told IANS.
Conrad assumed the top post of Meghalaya, which is father had held for a short period, after the regional United Democratic Party (UDP), People's Democratic Front and Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) decided to support the NPP in forming the government on condition that a NPP leader would be the Chief Minister.
In Ranikor, Danggo, who had represented Ranikor constituency five consecutive times, lost to novice Pius Marweiñ of UDP by 2,896 votes.
Marweiñ polled 13,183 votes while Danggo bagged 10,287. People's Democratic Front candidate P.N. Syiem and Jackiush A. Sangma of the Congress secured 1,978 and 938 votes respectively.
Both the UDP and PDF are part of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition government. With this victory, the NPP and UDP have increased their strength to 20 and eight respectively in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly.
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Karnataka govt formulating civil aviation policy: Minister Patil
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil on Friday said that the state government is formulating a civil aviation policy of its own, covering various aspects of the sector.
He also said that a meeting of public representatives from Ballari, Vijayanagara and Koppal districts will be held soon under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's chairmanship, regarding the airport in the region, as he stressed that both feasibility and viability should be considered while determining the location for airports.
The minister was replying to a question about Ballari airport, raised by Gangavathi MLA G Janardhana Reddy in the Legislative Assembly.
"We build airports, but after three years they get shut down. The situation is not only in our state, but it is across the country. We don't know the future of district airports. So I met the Union Civil Aviation Minister along with the Chief Minister with a request that the UDAN scheme be extended from three years to five years, and that for the subsequent five years the Centre and the state should jointly support operations in a 50:50 ratio," Patil said.
"The issue is there across the country and they (Centre) are also thinking on these lines...We are also bringing a policy on civil aviation from the Infrastructure Development Department (IDD). Two other states have done it --Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. That policy will have things like state's share, bulk amount sought by international airlines, among other things," he said, adding that work is on regarding this policy.
Noting that the proposed Ballari airport should benefit not only Ballari district but also the people of Koppal and Vijayanagara districts, the minister said in this regard, a meeting of public representatives from the three districts will soon be convened under the chairmanship of the chief minister to deliberate on the merits and challenges of the project.
There is little use if an airport becomes inactive after construction. "Keeping this in mind, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has identified two new sites in Ballari district measuring about 800 acres and 1,200 acres for the proposed airport," he said.
If the airport were to be constructed at the previously identified site in Ballari, it would require the construction of an eight-lane greenfield highway and involve several other issues, the minister said.
"Land acquisition and compensation alone would cost nearly as much as the airport project itself. Therefore, that option is not practically feasible. The matter will ultimately be finalised at the meeting to be held under the chairmanship of the CM," he added.
Stating that airports must be planned with foresight, otherwise, the same mistakes seen in Hubballi, Belagavi and Vijayapura would be repeated, Patil pointed out that the distance between Belagavi and Hubballi airports is only about 70 km.
"If an airport had been constructed at a location between the two districts to serve both regions, it might have been declared an international airport based on passenger traffic," he said.
A similar mistake has been made in Vijayapura as well. "The airport that is now ready for inauguration has been constructed on the Kalaburagi road. If it had been located towards Almatti instead, it would have benefited places such as Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal and Bagalkote, all of which have tourist attractions," he said.
Highlighting that airports located in district and divisional headquarters across the country are facing challenges, the minister said Bidar and Kalaburagi airports are also experiencing difficulties.
"At present, Bidar airport is functioning with the support of the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB). There has also been a demand to resume operations at Kalaburagi airport, and steps will be taken in that direction," he added.
